Small Doesn't Mean Weak
by Akela Victoire
Summary: Ever since her sister gained her Enchantix, there's been no excitement whatsoever in Miele's life- a fact she truly hates. With the arrival of twins from a remote, obscure planet, an adventure practically drops right into her lap. With the help of her young friends, Miele proves that people can be heroes, no matter their age and power can come in small packages.
1. Chapter 1

"Come on, sis. We can do this. We can get out of here!" A young boy urged his sister.

The two children were in a dark room with barely any space to move around in. The only light in the room was that of moonlight, shining through a tiny window high above them.

"Malachi, I don't know if we _can…_" The girl cried.

The moonlight shone on them, showing them to be twins, no more than ten years old with bright green eyes, pale skin and jet black hair.

"We have to! We can't let Kirova come back and we're still here! She'll rip the magic right out of us! I'll never get to be a real paladin and you'll never get your fairy wings! Do you want that, Divina? _Do you?_"

"No!" Divina whimpered. "But what can we do? There's no way to get out of here. This is an anti-magic chamber we're locked in. And even if it weren't, we are too weak. Our magic isn't strong yet and they have barely been feeding us enough to keep us alive!" She moaned.

"Look, Vin. I know it doesn't look too good, but where's the cheerful twin sister I used to know?" Malachi put a hand on top of his sister's unkempt curly hair.

"That stopped when I started having all these creepy dreams every time I fell asleep and is even more locked away now that _we're _locked away!" Divina exclaimed.

"We have to get out of here somehow. To save our parents. To save our home. If Kirova wins, the rest of us lose. Big time." Malachi was about to say something else, but he heard noises outside.

"Ssh!" He said, moving away from his sister.

An archway formed on one side of the room, letting in a flood of light from the lamp that the large, burly man standing just inside the doorway held.

"Come on, you little brats. Kirova says you've got to be fed, so…"

He put a tray with two bowls of an unidentifiable mush and the spoons sticking upright in them on the small table in the dungeon the children occupied and tossed in four stale slices of bread along with them.

"You're getting a feast tonight!" The man chuckled cruelly.

Malachi looked at his sister who was sitting in a corner of the cold stone floor, crying.

"What are you crying about, you little baby? You should be glad to offer your powers to Kirova!" The man laughed at they crying, terrified girl.

Malachi felt himself grow angry. How dare this creep make his sister cry even more than she already had!

He threw the bowls of mush at the man, startling him.

"Let's go, Vina! Let's go!" He reached for his sister's arm and dragged her out the door, into the now dark hallway, since the man had dropped and broken the lamp he held when Malachi threw the mush at him.

"We need to get out of here, _we need to get out of here…_" Malachi kept repeating to himself as his sister struggled to keep up with him.

All of a sudden, monstrous dogs with glowing red eyes and thick ropes of saliva hanging from teeth that looked more like small, off-white daggers lunged at them.

The children screamed and narrowly dodged.

Divina's eyes glowed a soft gold as they ran faster than ever to avoid the monster-dogs.

"They know we're out!" She exclaimed in (even more) fright.

"That I can tell!" Malachi breathed, already starting to feel tired.

"No, no! Kirova knows we've escaped too! I just _saw_ it!" Divina exclaimed.

"Listen to your sister, Malachi. She's right!"

A woman dressed in a navy blue, ankle-length long-sleeved corset dress appeared in front of them.

Both children screamed in terror and tried to back away, but heard the sounds of the monster-dogs coming up behind them.

"Like my new pets? I did their…. _improvements _myself…" Her long, dark-brown hair flipped around, even though there was no breeze present.

"Let us go, Kirova! You won't get away with any of this!" Malachi exclaimed.

"_Oh?"_ Kirova raised an eyebrow. "I _won't? _I've already murdered or arranged the murders of the Royal Council members, your father… And who knows where Queen Adelaide could be now?" Kirova glanced at the black-painted things that she called fingernails but the twins thought looked more like claws.

"I'd say I already have…" Kirova smiled sadistically.

"D… Dad's… _dead?_" Malachi's bravado wavered.

"Indeed he is, _Prince Malachi._ Now why don't we go back to your little room and then you won't have to meet the same fate?"

"NEVER!" Divina's eyes widened and she clapped her hands over her mouth as soon as she said it.

"Very well." The twins could hear more danger in Kirova's tone than in the most dangerous curse.

Her cold, grey eyes flashed as she muttered a quick spell that engulfed the twins in a black light and lifted them off the ground.

Gold light joined the black as it drained out the children's bodies…

"No…" Divina struggled against the spell, as did her brother. "NO!"

A blinding gold light filled the room, forcing Kirova to break the spell and dropping the children to the ground.

"Need to go… Somewhere safe…" Divina managed to conjure a white card with a black frame and golden symbols in the middle.

"Malachi, grab my hand!" Divina cried, reaching out her free hand to him.

He did, still weakened from Kirova's spell on them both.

"_No…"_ Kirova's eyes widened.

"_Nowhere on this planet is safe for us, so…"_ Divina thought. "TRANSPORTUS TAROTUS…" She saw Kirova beginning to chant an incantation for what was no doubt a lethal spell…

The monster dogs were behind them. They had no other choice…

"TRANSPORUS TAROTUS SOMEWHERE FAR AWAY AND SAFE!"

She borrowed some of her brother's power to add to her own and they both disappeared, just as Kirova released her spell and the monster-dogs lunged.

The last thing she saw before she fell into darkness were lots and lots of trees as she fell into what felt like grass…

* * *

Miele DiFiore of Linphea, daughter of Linden and Fern, younger sister of Guardian Fairy Flora- a member of the Winx Club- and a future great fairy just like her, walked through the forest in the back of her home.

She consulted a new book on magical plants that floated in front of her as she walked, holding a basket on one arm.

"What was it that mama wanted again? Silver hibiscus, pine cones, carmine stems, leaves of the Drogoba plant…"

Suddenly, a few feet away from her, a bright gold light flashed.

Miele had only recently begun training to sense different kinds of magic herself, but even she could tell that it felt like a transportation spell.

Now instead of running off to get her parents like most normal Linpehan children would, she ran to check it out. Wasn't this sort of behaviour, she theorized, the catalyst for Flora's Enchantix anyway? Proving that you should take risks?

Plus she was strong and brave. She could totally handle whatever trouble it was!

She peeked between some trees where she'd seen the flash and drew back, startled at what she saw, dropping the levitation spell on the book she had in the process.

Two children who looked to be around her age and apparently were twins lay in the middle of the grass there.

Though it wasn't _really_ that fact which startled her. Transportation spells_ could_ go wrong, after all. It was more the fact that they looked absolutely _terrible._

Their clothes were tattered, they had scratches all over their bodies, they looked somewhat malnourished, their hair was messy and tangled…

Never mind the fact that they were both… Miele moved forward to check… _unconscious…_

Something awful had happened to them recently. Anyone could tell that much, at least.

She dropped the basket that was still on her arm and ran back through the forest, not stopping until she reached back home.

"Miele, what's the matter?" You look like you've seen a ghost!" Her mother Fern was sitting in their backyard and stood up as she saw her younger daughter appear suddenly.

"Mama! Bring Papa and come quickly!" She exclaimed.

"Papa is here. What's the problem, Miele? You look as if you've seen a ghost!" Her father Linden exclaimed.

"_I know! _Mama said that already! Now come before they really _do _become ghosts!" Miele exclaimed.

"What are y-" Miele cut them off as she tried to drag her parents behind her.

"Over here…" Miele explained to them in a rush what she saw and as soon as they saw what Miele had been trying to explain to them, they put all other thoughts out of their minds as they set about helping these battered looking children even though they didn't know who they were, where they came from or the excitement and adventure it would bring into their and more specifically, Miele's life._  
_


	2. Chapter 2

"Mama, will they be okay?" Miele sat next to her mother at the kitchen table as her father bustled around, fixing them some sandwiches and tea.

Fern sighed as she took the plate of sandwiches from Linden and munched on one idly.

"They should be, sweetheart. They had a couple bruises and cuts, were suffering from mild malnutrition and magical exhaustion. They've been through a lot…"

"Magical exhaustion… They used up too much magical power for their age, probably to get away from whoever treated them like this…" Linden set out teacups, poured tea for them all and set the teapot down gently in the middle of the table.

"Get away from _who…_ you mean someone did that to them?" Miele asked in horror.

Her parents nodded. "Looks that way. We've done what we can for them but we've called the Peacekeepers. They'll be here so…" Fern was cut off by the sounds of screams coming from a nearby room.

Dropping everything onto the table, the adults dashed off, with Miele close behind.

When they arrived to the room in question- a small bedroom with two twin beds made up with white and grey sheets and thick blankets, they found the girl, writing and screaming, getting herself tangled up in the covers as she did.

"NO! NO! DADDY! MOMMY! WHERE ARE YOU? DON'T LEAVE ME AGAIN!" Tears streamed down the girl's face as she struggled.

Fern moved swiftly forward and held the girl tightly, rocking back and forth.

"_Shhhhhhh,_ there, there young one. You're safe. You're safe here. No one will hurt you here. You're safe…"

The girl stopped struggling, although she still cried.

"Where… where am I? Where are we? How do I know I'm safe here?" She looked up at Fern, her bright green eyes still swimming in tears.

"You're on Linphea, a predominantly fairy planet with its magic rooted in nature. You're safe here. We are in a Guardian Fairy's home and their homes are among the safest in existence…" Fern said softly.

The girl stopped crying. "Really? Are you that Guardia Fairy?"

"No, that's my big sister Flora!" Miele exclaimed, stepping forward.

"Miele…" Linden said in a warning tone.

"Hi, I'm Miele! I wish I could have met you under better circumstances…" She laughed nervously as she sat at the edge of the mysterious girl's bed.

"M… me… t… too…" The girl sniffled. "My name is Divina, Princess of Ganymede. My brother in the other bed is… Crown Prince Malachi of Ganymede. Will… will he be okay?" Divina glanced back at the adults.

"He shall be. You say you are Princess of Ganymede? We have never heard of this planet. Is it far?" Fern asked.

"It is a small planet, not many have heard of it. As for being far… I commanded my transport spell to take me and my brother as far away from Ganymede as we had the combined power to…" Divina shrugged.

"Can we get anything for you, dear?" Linden asked.

"Do you have tea? And food? I haven't eaten a proper meal in weeks…" Divina groaned.

"Sure." Linden smiled as he and Fern went out to get her some.

Divina glanced at Miele. "So... This is your home, isn't it? It's very beautiful…" She sighed wistfully.

"Thanks. I was born and grew up in this very house. You'll like it here, I promise." Miele smiled.

"But… I can't stay! My planet is in big trouble! I can't stay here! My planet needs me! Needs us!" Divina gestured to her brother.

"I know. My sister the Guardian Fairy helped saved many worlds…"

"Can she help mine?" Divina asked eagerly.

"No, she's on Earth on a mission with the Winx Club…" Miele sighed. "On another adventure. Without me…"

"Oh." Divina sounded disappointed. "On Earth, the magicless planet?" She perked up.

"Yes. But like I was saying before, my sister Flora helped save many worlds, including our own. Helped saved many lives including mine. That's how she got her Enchantix- saving me. But she always had a lot of help from her friends. If your planet needs your help, you won't be able to do it alone…" Miele had a rare moment of wisdom.

"You're… right…" Divina sunk back into the sheets. "My brother and I can't do it alone. We'd need help to beat Kirova. Lots of help…"

"Okay, girls! Snack time!" Fern said cheerfully as she brought in plates of sandwiches and cookies and levitated some cups of tea behind her.

Conjuring up a small table and chair for Miele, she placed her food there and conjured up a tray for Divina, helping her sit up and handing her the food.

"Princess, you can call me or my husband if you need anything and when your brother wakes up…"

"No… no… You do not have to call me or my brother by our titles. Not after what you've done for us…" Divina coughed. "…us both…" She coughed again.

Fern nodded. "Very well… Divina. Remember you can call us if you need us… and if Miele bothers you too much. She has a tendency to do that…"

"Hey!" Miele exclaimed indignantly as Divina giggled.

"Will do!" Divina took a large bite of her sandwich.

Fern closed the door, hearing the two girls laugh behind it, a smile creeping up her own face.


	3. Chapter 3

Birthday Update Time! Today, August 27 is my birthday! You know what I want for my birthday? Reviews! :)

* * *

Divina sat in the near dark room, glancing over at her twin brother in the next bed, illuminated only by the moonlight shining through a window.

Malachi hadn't woken up yet and they had escaped captivity three days ago.

She worried for him. Would he ever even wake up? He was always the stronger of the pair, always the one to encourage her even if she was nervous or scared, always the one to try and keep their spirits up during their period of captivity... What would she do without him?

And her father... King Ferdinand... just daddy to her... he was already gone for sure, she knew that. Her mother, Queen Adelaide... they didn't know what happened to her and she was scared of what might have happened to her. She couldn't stand losing her brother too.

He was the only one she had left...

She huddled up in her bed and began to cry, thinking of how happy life had been before Kirova had decided to ruin all of that.

Why would Kirova want to turn on them like that? Hadn't she once been her mommy's friend? Why would she suddenly become so mean and evil?

The thoughts made her cry even harder, until the sobs began to rack her body and she rocked back and forth in the bed, letting the tears fall freely down her face.

She heard a noise in the doorway and turned to look, startled.

"I'm sorry for startling you, Divina. It's just that I was up to go get some water and I heard you and well... Here..." Miele finished lamely, handing the dark-haired girl a glass of water, while sitting on the edge of the bed, holding her own glass.

"Thank you..." Divina said softly.

"No problem. So you... you were crying? Mom says when I'm sad, that it helps to talk about it with someone else..." Miele offered.

"I... I can't yet. I just can't! It was all just so horrible! Daddy's dead, Mom... I don't know what happened to my mom and Malachi won't wake up!" Divina began to cry again. "It's so hard! All these bad things happened to us so fast and I haven't seen the outside of that horrible place we were kept in until I managed to bring us here and, and..." Divina began to somehow cough and cry at the same time.

"I just want my parents back!" She wailed.

Miele looked sad. How do you talk to someone who had been through what Divina and her brother obviously had?

Miele sighed. "Try to drink a little water and calm down. It has some Aloe Vera in it and I find that at helps with the coughing sometimes..."

Divina did as Miele suggested and smiled weakly. "Thanks. At home I never had any friends around my age and neither did Malachi. We only ever had each other to play with and talk to most of the time..." She hiccupped and took another sip of water.

"Well, maybe if you go to school here, I can introduce you to some of my friends there. I don't know if that's likely or not though..." Miele thought aloud.

"Friends? School... with others like us? I... I've never been to a school like that before. It was always me and Malachi privately taught together or separately. I don't think I could handle going to school with other kids. I'd probably be terrible at it. I'm not very good with people and I was never particularly good with my education even the personal tutoring I had..." Divina sniffled.

"No you won't! You gotta have a little confidence in yourself, Divina!" Miele exclaimed.

"How can I, after what happened to my planet? I saw a lot of horrible things. Things I couldn't even do anything to stop!" Divina burst out crying again, rocking back and forth.

At this, Fern entered the room, looking concerned.

"There, there. You're okay here, Divina. I promise. We're going to do everything we can to help you and your brother, okay?" She said soothingly.

"Nothing's ever going to be okay again! Mommy is gone and daddy is dead! How can things ever be _okay_ again?" Divina cried even harder.

Miele slunk out of the room, looking and feeling troubled. She really wished she could do more to help Divina feel better, but how could she ever do that?

* * *

The twins sat at a banquet table with a beautiful brown-haired woman with piercing green eyes and a handsome man with jet black hair and bright blue eyed.

"Father, what are we supposed to do today?" Malachi asked the man.

"I have promised to visit some of the farmers of our world today and you are to come with me. Farmers are very important people, you know." The man said to him.

"But Father, they don't wear a crown like you do sometimes!" Malachi exclaimed.

"Not all important people wear crowns, my son. You do not have to be a royal to be important to your planet. Farmers are the ones responsible for cultivating the plants and raising the animals that eventually come together to be your meal every day." The man gestured to the table. "If they do not have what they need to work properly or are not very happy with their conditions, you don't get to eat all the food you like to eat." The man poked Malachi in the stomach, making him laugh.

"Ferdinand, dear, I'm thinking of taking Divina to the beach today. She has been expressing the desire to go there for a long time. The royal guard would come with us of course. What do you think?" The woman asked him.

Divina looked across the table at her father with big, wide eyes. "Please, Father? May we go?" She begged.

Ferdinand pretended to think for a moment. "Sure, I see no reason not to, Adelaide." He shrugged.

"Yay! Thank you Father!" Divina giggled.

Adelaide smiled.

That smile was immediately turned upside down when there was a loud explosion sound outside, shaking the palace and throwing them out of their seats.

"EEP! Mommy, Daddy! What was that?" Divina asked.

"I don't know, dear..." Adelaide shoved her daughter behind her.

There was another explosion that caused the walls of the dining room to cave in.

Over the wreckage, Kirova floated, smirking.

Divina and Malachi climbed out of the wreckage, scratched and bruised.

"Lady Kirova, what happened?" Malachi asked.

"_I_ happened." She fired off a spell at them and the twins screamed and took off as their parents emerged from the rubble and tried fighting Kirova.

"Kirova, really? Why would you do this to us? Am I not your friend?" Adelaide asked, shocked.

"Not anymore I'm not. Friendship has no place in your life when it's power you seek." She fired off another spell.

"Sister, we have to get out of here. Now! I don't know why Lady Kirova is being so mean but she obviously doesn't like us anymore!" Malachi exclaimed, taking his sister's hand.

"You do not have to tell me that again!" Divina had already begun to cry.

"Come on!" he tugged her along as they ran down the corridors.

Chaos had already broken out in the castle. Ordinary servants and guards alike were fighting strange monsters and strange people who were attacking them.

All of a sudden a large monster that more resembled a demonic looking Saber-toothed Tiger with horns atop its head and glowing red eyes jumped down in front of them.

The twins screamed in horror.

"Where do you think you two brats are going, huh?" It asked them before casting a spell at them.

* * *

"NOOOOOOOOO! DIVINA!"

Malachi woke up, sweat drenched and screaming.

"No, no, no, no, no!" He screamed.

"Malachi? MALACHI!" Divina was the first to burst through the door and be at her brother's side.

"Divina! The monster! It's going to get us again! We have to go! We have to _go!_" He whined- although it was in a language that the Linpheans in the doorway could not understand.

"Malachi! Brother! Wake up! We got away from Kirova! We escaped! _Wake up!_" Divina also spoke in that strange language.

"I- what? Divina? Wha- what happened to us? Where are we?" Malachi bolted up in bed suddenly, looking around the room.

"And who are those people? Are they more of Kirova's people?" He asked, pointing at Linden, Fern and Miele standing in the doorway.

"No, _no,_ brother. Not at all! Remember when I borrowed some of your power to help us escape from captivity?" Divina held her brother's hands.

"No, not really. It's all really foggy to me..." Malachi rubbed his head and groaned.

Divina turned to the Linpheans and switched back to English. "My brother! He's awake! Can you do anything for him?"

"Of course." Fern moved forward slowly.

"Divina, who is this strange woman?" Malachi asked her in the strange language.

"She says her name is Fern. We are in her home and she is the mother of a Guardian Fairy so this house is one of the safest places for us to be right now." Divina answered quietly.

"How is he? Does he speak English?" Fern asked, leaning down to be on their level.

"He does, but he's too out of it now to think in any other language but Ganymedi..." Divina said sadly.

"You will just have to translate for us then." Fern smiled encouragingly at the twins.

* * *

Kirova pounded her crystal ball angrily.

"This stupid thing will not show me where those blasted twins are!" She growled in frustration.

"They must be somewhere with lots of strong magical protection around it. Great. _Just great!_ It's only going to make my job even harder!" She snarled.

The large burly man who had been the twins' guard in captivity stood quietly behind her.

"Nazir! Go fetch these items from the spell ingredients storeroom!" She conjured up a list of items and handed them to him.

"I'm going to need some much more powerful magic to get those pesky twins back here, it seems!"


	4. Chapter 4

"Divina? Malachi?" Fern said gently as she entered the room where the twins were talking with each other in Ganymedi.

"Yes?" Divina answered.

"Queen Panacea wants to come here and meet you two. She's going to arrive here tomorrow afternoon..." Fern sat down next to them.

"We get to meet the Queen of this planet? She's going to come here to see _us_ personally?" Malachi asked in awe.

"She most certainly is. She wanted to meet and talk to you in person and she felt that you would be more comfortable here with Linden and I..." Fern smiled slightly.

"That's nice, I guess..." Divina smiled back.

"She wants you to stay here until it's safe for you to go back to your home planet. Which _will _happen. This Kirova woman will not get away with what she has done, especially with people like my older daughter Flora out there, willing to fight for what is right..." Fern reassured them.

"Oh! Can you tell us stories about Flora? Miele speaks very highly of her!" Malachi asked.

"She _would._ She's been looking up to her older sister for as long as she could!" Linden smiled as he joined them.

* * *

It was the first day of school on Linphea and Miele walked down the halls of her elaborate tree-house school in the City of Trees, looking pensive and watching her fellow schoolmates chatter happily about how their break had been.

_"Mine was certainly quite interesting though I can't really say it was particularly happy near the end..."_ Miele thought back to the day she'd first encountered Divina and Malachi.

_"If my sister were here, she'd know what to do! She always knows what to do. I mean, she's powerful, brave, beautiful, smart..."_

Her thoughts were broken by the sound of a voice.

"Hey Miele! Why the long face? I know it is school, but surely you do not dislike it _that _much..." A girl with jet-black curly hair pulled into pigtails, grey eyes and dark skin waved her hand in front of Miele's face.

"Renata's right. What's up with you?" A tanned-skinned boy with messy dark purple hair and blue eyes behind a pair of thick glasses said.

"It's not what's up with me. It's what's up with... someone else I met over the break." Miele frowned.

Renata and the boy looked at one another oddly.

"Miele, who could possibly-" The boy was cut off as the sound of chimes rang throughout the school.

"I'll tell you what I can, Nicky. _At lunch._ Gotta go! I have art class first thing!" Miele reached for a vine above her head and shrieked in delight as it hoisted her up between floors.

"IT'S NICHOLAS!" the boy called up exasperatedly as Renata stood next to him giggling.

* * *

"So... What's up with this mysterious person you met over the break?" Renata asked as they sat together at lunch.

"It's not a someone. It's _someones._ Two of them. Twins our age. They escaped from something terrible on another planet and somehow managed to escape all the way here to Linphea..." Miele poked at her salad idly as she told them the little that she knew.

"Wow. Those poor kids!" Nicholas exclaimed.

"You said it, Nicholas. We are their age and I simply cannot imagine going through what they did..." Renata shuddered at the thought.

"I mean, they have these nightmares all the time and sometimes they wake up screaming in the middle of the night... I wish I could do more to help. Mom and dad are doing a lot to help. Mom does all these herbal teas and comfort foods and helps heal their physical and magical injuries. Dad helps with that, plus he does his best to make them laugh and tells lots of good stories to help take their mind off things. But me? What can I do?" Miele sighed.

"I am sure it would be beneficial to have you around in some capacity. Adults can only do so much. They will need someone their age to talk to as well." Renata said and Nicholas nodded in agreement.

"I dunno... If Flora were here, she'd know what to do. She always knows what to do. I wish I could be more like her... If I were, then I'd help to take back their planet and send that Kirova witch to the Omega Dimension!" Miele declared.

"But you're _not_ your sister, Miele! You're _you!_ And we like you for that, so stop wishing that you were your sister already!" Nicholas exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Nicholas is right. You are our friend, Miele and we do not ever want you to change." Renata smiled.

Miele smiled back. "You two are both right. I'm Miele DiFiore, daughter of Linden and Fern DiFiore and future strong, brave and beautiful person, who will be known throughout all the realms!" Miele declared.

"Just like your sister?" Nicholas raised an eyebrow.

"I'll be famous like her, but I'm going to do it my own way, Nicky!" Nicholas didn't even bother to correct Miele's use of the hated nickname this time.

"If you say so. Now, are you going to finish your potatoes?" Renata eyed the bowl of mashed potatoes next to Miele.

"Yes! These are mine and you can't have any- HEY!" Miele narrowly managed to get the bowl out of the reach of Nicholas.

"You really should pay more attention to your food or someone else might eat it for you!" Nicholas laughed.

"Oh shut up, Nicky!" Miele said through mouthfuls of potato.

Nicholas fumed as the two girls laughed at him.


End file.
